Bob Bennett Update

The first ballot has been finished at the Utah Republican convention, where Sen. Bob Bennett (R) could potentially lose re-nomination without a primary unless he can reach 40% of the delegate vote.

The results, courtesy of the Salt Lake Tribune: Attorney Mike Lee 28.75%, businessman Tim Bridgewater 26.84%, the incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett 25.91%, and businesswoman Cherilyn Eagar 15.84%, with four others at around 1% or less each.

Now the convention will move on to the second ballot, in which only the top three choices -- Lee, Bridgewater and Bennett -- are competing. One of them will be eliminated, bringing the race down to two, and it can't look good for Bennett going into this round in third place. As a GOP source in Utah told me yesterday: "if Bennett is third, then I think Bennett is toast, because Bennett is not gonna get many second votes of the delegates."